Beyond the River

Beyond the River, Ann Hagedorn. Simon & Schuster. (ISBN: 9780684870663) 2004.

Summary: A history of the Underground Railroad line passing through Ripley, Ohio, featuring the Rankin family and other townspeople.

One of the aspects of Ohio history of which I am most proud is our efforts to end slavery. From the advocacy of countless individuals to Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the numerous lines of the Underground Railroad, moving slaves to freedom in Canada, Ohio was on the forefront of opposing this form of human bondage. We are the home of the National Underground Freedom Center in Cincinnati. When I was a campus minister at Ohio State, I learned that one of those lines ran through the land that would become Ohio State, with a stop where the main library would later be located. The newest iteration of the student union features a three-story octagonal structure at the south end, an architectural representation of a lantern, a symbol for a stop on the underground railroad. Incidentally, The Lantern is also the name of the student newspaper.

Enough for giving kudos to my home state. Or not quite, because this review features a small Ohio town on the Ohio River that played a major role in underground railroad history. Ripley, Ohio is about as far south as you can get and still be in Ohio. Early settlers to the town included a number from the South who abhorred slavery. The town sat just across from Kentucky, a slave state on the north edge of the South. In between sat the river, which would sometimes freeze over in the city or run shallow in the summer.

Ann Hagedorn writes a vivid account of the townspeople who rescued and sheltered slaves, setting them on their way to Canada through a network of stops spanning the state. In order to write this history, Hagedorn moved to Ripley. Thus, she interviewed descendants, mined local archives, and saw the lay of the land, largely unchanged.

A figure who looms large in the account is Rev. John Rankin. He was among those moving from the South, not only because he opposed slavery, but had the temerity to do so in his preaching. The call to Ripley brought him to a small church more amenable to his views. The church not only served as a platform for his views but also a springboard to abolitionist advocacy and organizing throughout the state and nationally. Hagedorn chronicles how he “walked the talk” in helping fugitive slaves on their way north. He moved out of town to build a house atop the hill with a lantern that could be seen from across the river. Slaves knew to make for the lantern. Rankin’s whole family was involved and Hagedorn chronicles how mother and sons, toting guns repelled slave hunters seeking fugitives.

With the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, aiding fugitives was illegal. Hagedorn describes the ways “stationmasters” avoided detection. For example, they usually knew only the next stop so that they limited exposure of the line. Fugitives were moved quickly. Often, townspeople did not know who else was involved.

But some paid heavily. John Mahan was one. Hagedorn describes how slave hunters from Kentucky trapped him. Subsequently, officials extradited him to Kentucky. After months in jail, the jury acquitted him of criminal charge, allowing him to return home. However, legal costs, and a subsequent civil trial for damages from the slave owner led to bankruptcy.

Ripley had its own Harriet Tubman. John Parker was a former slave, who made frequent forays into Kentucky to bring slaves across the Ohio. All this was at great risk, especially when he saw wanted posters with his picture. But he never got caught.

Hagedorn shows the connections those in Ripley had to a wider network, particularly abolitionists in Cincinnati. One winter, the rescue, over melting ice of a slaved named Eliza and her children, contributed to one of the most memorable narratives in Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

The narrative also traces the intensification of the hostility as more slaves crossed the river that mirrored the rising hostility between north and south. This included increasing incidents of violent attacks on Ripley residents.

Hagedorn combines scrupulous scholarship with vivid storytelling. She introduces us to “everyday heroes” as well as dominant figures like John Rankin. Also, behind this story is the question of when moral conviction and the laws of the land conflict. Hagedorn draws out the “higher law” that drove people like Rankin to courageously subvert the legal structures supporting slavery. Again, the local situation illustrates how untenable it is to sustain such a conflict. Something to think about.